Just One More Lie
by EAD13
Summary: There is a third option for playable main character: Alvin. What new information do we learn by taking things from his perspective? What happens when he sneaks off alone? And at the end of the day, is there truly a reason to every lie he tells, or is he simply creating one big mess that even he can't control? There's more to the traitor character than betrayals.
1. Chapter 1:Change of Plans

Author's Note: I do not own the characters, locations, or basic plot described herein.

I have admittedly become very taken by Alvin's character. I actually played Tales of Xillia 2 before playing the original, and that is where I fell in love with him initially. Of course, then you do your homework and realize all the bad things he has done in the first game, and well, you feel a need to try and rationalize that. Another Alvin fan had mentioned a desire to see him as a third main character alongside Jude and Milla. There are certainly enough times where he goes off on his own and we all want to know what he does or says. Challenge accepted. I'm going to fill in plot holes surrounding Alvin in the original Tales of Xillia as if we were playing with him as a main character. I know there is some info I'm missing because I haven't read any guidebooks or Alvin Chronicles or anything like that, I only have what I know from playing the game and browsing the web. Let me know if something is so inaccurate that it hurts. Otherwise, let me know what you think!

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He was able to bypass the door's security code with ease. After all, even Rashugal's top technology could be disabled like child's play by a properly trained Elympion. Rieze Maxians and their precious spirit artes…they were definitely distracted from scientific progress by creating new means to harness spirits. Not that Elympions had that luxury.

Having successfully gained entrance to the top secret facility, he paused to contemplate the light security around the perimeter. Something must be wrong, or else he wouldn't be having such an easy time. Had Gaius's minion been caught, throwing the place in an uproar? That seemed unlikely. Gaius only had the best working for him as the King of Auj Oule… He would have to remain alert and assume this was some kind of trap.

He slid the door open just enough to squeeze through and gently shut it behind him, staying pressed against the wall in the shadows. Taking a moment to get his bearings, he immediately noticed the handful of guards in the area were shouting and running in the opposite direction. Someone else WAS here. That made his job a lot easier, but then again the information gathering would be more complicated than expected. He was only supposed to tail Gaius' agent to ensure no harm would befall the Lance, and catch wind of what they were planning. If necessary, he was to put a stop to the Auj Oule agent. But this, this seemed like quite the fiasco.

Waiting for the commotion to die off as the intruders entered a different sector, he carefully slinked in the same direction. Several security members lay unconscious on the ground, along with their trained beasts. Whoever the invader was, they were certainly no amateurs. Interesting. He reached the door where they had entered, intent on tailing them, but before he could open it, he heard hurried footsteps coming from behind him. Thinking quickly, he spied a ladder to the underground sewers and climbed down halfway, straining his ears for any clues to this person's identity. His alertness was rewarded when he heard a growly female voice mutter "I'm going to make them pay. They will scream with pain when I am done with them!" Whoever it was opened the door, and very cautiously, he peaked over the edge of the platform to spy a blur of red and white pass through the door.

That matched the description of the Auj Oule agent: Agria. The stinger of the Chimeriad. But what was that about making someone pay? Had she actually been BESTED by someone else? Had another group found out about Gaius' plans and arrived to stop him? But then why would she still be alive? He allowed himself a frustrated growl. There were becoming more questions than answers. He scaled the ladder and once again approached the door. She should be far enough away by now to enter.

Yet again, when he entered the next passageway, unconscious bodies littered the floor. Yikes. These people, whoever they were, worked quickly. Scanning the room, he determined no one was there, but there was a door left ajar to the left and…very loud noises. Like a machine on overdrive. Shouts. What the hell?

Stealth no longer seemed important with so much chaos, so he quickly moved to the door and peered in. The Lance was being stored in that room, and it had been activated, sapping strength from everyone within; even as he stood in the doorway, he could feel it starting to siphon off his own, and he backed away quickly. He had seen enough for now. The figure in red was indeed Agria, and she was howling in delight at the pain everyone was suffering (what a crazy witch!) as she handled the Lance's controls. Everyone turned out to be two people: a scantily clad woman with flowing golden hair, and a kid in his early teens who didn't look like he knew the first thing about what was happening. The spy knew he had missed something important, but at the moment it was too dangerous to pry further.

Suddenly, the deafening noise stopped. The Lance had been turned off? He allowed himself to peek in again, and he was just in time to witness the entire platform start to crumble. He slid into the room behind a pillar to observe as the woman, now greatly weakened, plummeted into the abyss below. She was holding onto something… The boy had grabbed onto the torn platform, but upon seeing his companion go down, he made the decision to let go. Agria was unconscious on the ground before the controls, having lost a significant amount of mana. Silence.

The wheels in his head were spinning furiously as he attempted to make something out of this information. Confident Agria was out for the count, he descended to where the controls were. The lever was still in the 'on' position so why… The image of the falling woman clutching something flashed in his mind. The key! She had stolen the key to the Lance! Certainly, a new one could be made with a bit of time, but who was she working for? The only real players in the game were Rashugal, Auj Oule, and Exodus. She belonged to none as far as he was aware.

Thinking on his feet, he grabbed Agria and began to exit the lab. Government soldiers would undoubtedly be arriving at any moment. It wouldn't do to have them discover the Auj Oule agent, especially not if he wanted something from their leader…

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Later that night, as he sat on the boat to Aladhi with the woman and the boy, he began writing in secret the letter he had been composing in his head ever since exiting the lab and hiding Agria somewhere out of the way until she could regain consciousness. Sure, he should have been writing a report to Exodus, but at the end of the day, he only used Exodus as long as it aligned with his interests. Tonight had started out as one such instance, but with this new information… He intended to take full advantage.

King Gaius,

I was at the Fennmont Research Center when everything went south, doing my own bit of digging on the Lance. Turns out there were two suspicious individuals from an unknown party that took out your Agent, Agria, and stole the key to the device. I am currently tagging along with the group under the premise of being a mercenary until I can discover more information about their motives and the location of the key. If you are interested in learning what I discover, send a message back with my sylphjay. In return, I would be interested in knowing your intentions for the Lance. I for one am not eager to see it in Rashugal hands.

-A

P.S. I left your agent somewhere safe lest she be picked up by Rashugal security. You're welcome.

Satisfied with the note, he folded it up and stuck it in his pocket. He would send it once they landed in Aladhi. And, best of all, not one lie had been told to the King. Being in Rashugal hands was the same as being in Gilland's hands, and he would certainly like to avoid helping that bastard achieve his rise to power…

Now, all he had to do was work his way into this group's circle and start getting some information out of them. The boy was the obvious place to start; he was confused and fragile, and wouldn't take much pressure to talk. He actually did feel a bit sorry for the poor kid, who for whatever reason had gotten dragged into the whole mess the woman seemed to have started. There were times he looked over at him…Jude, was it?...and he looked so lost. Yeah, he'd talk. And in return, he decided that he'd make sure nothing bad happened to him while he was around to do something about it. Once it was time to leave, they were all on their own, though.

Now, the hardest part would be keeping up the mercenary act when they didn't have anything to pay him with… Well, so far they had seemed to buy his excuse (which was certainly very sloppy on their part, because it was not a very good one at all). Maybe he'd just tell them he was heading in the same direction and looking for work as he went. They were suckers, after all.

He leaned back, arms behind his head. All of this kind of thinking was second nature to him, even if it seemed complicated to someone looking in from the outside. After all, this is what he had been trained to do since he was a little kid. Hopefully Gilland would see soon enough that he had been playing with fire when he had forced him into this lifestyle. The thought of turning the tables on his manipulative uncle made him smile. Man, what a messed up guy he was becoming, getting a kick from backstabbing his own uncle… He didn't feel one bit sorry for it. Just keep smiling and winking, and no one will be the wiser to how messed up you really are.


	2. Chapter 2: Shocking News and Biding Time

Author's Note: I do not own the characters, locations, or basic storyline.

This wasn't an actual instance in the game where Alvin goes off on his own, but I thought he would have a lot to think about considering Milla had just claimed to be the being he needs to kill to get back home, as well as being a threat to the Lance he needs to work in order to get back home. Basically, claiming to be everything that keeps him from realizing one of his driving goals. I did read sympathy in Alvin's character when I played through this part of the game when it came to Jude, and I don't believe that was a front. He's just REALLY hoping Jude isn't going to get in his way so he won't have to do anything unpleasant...

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It felt earlier than it actually was with Aladhi's perpetual sunset clime, and he didn't much enjoy it. What he wanted was darkness, an environment he could blend into and disappear in while he took his stroll along the waterfront of the seahaven. It was exhausting work to be a spy, putting on a face and dealing with your targets constantly, mind sharp and aware of every meaning behind every gesture and glance all while looking completely inconspicuous and carefree. It was twice as taxing when one wasn't raised to be a very social person. Was it too much to ask for some shade so he could act naturally for a little while without anyone seeing?

The lack of darkness didn't bother his companions, who were both already asleep back at the inn. Understandably, they had been through quite a bit in a short amount of time and were exhausted: breaking into a top secret laboratory, escaping from the Rashugal military, traveling across the sea and learning how to defend themselves… For him the whole ordeal was practically status quo. Well, scratch that. One thing was wildly beyond normal, and it was the entire reason he felt the need for some fresh air and a stretch. It went back to his post-dinner conversation with Jude about the then-passed-out Milla, and it left a lot to think about.

For one, just before that, they had learned that for the first time in her life, the woman needed to eat. As in she had apparently never eaten before. It took a lot to shock him, but this was certainly something worthy of that. And she was so casual about it, making some comment about thinking the "human" expression of a growling stomach was just that as she could hardly stand on her own two feet. Even stranger, the story she told about Undine and Sylph providing her all the energy she had ever needed… So not only did she never require food, but she had Great Spirits waiting on her? Why would anyone fabricate such a story? It was pure lunacy!

As soon as she had eaten, she fell into a deep sleep right there at the table. Jude had commented that it might also be the first time she needed to sleep as well. Though it was quite unlike him, he was very direct in his question: just who was she? Jude answered without hesitation that she was Maxwell. Not just a spirit, but THE spirit. He sounded very sincere about it. Surely a student of the most prestigious medical college in Rashugal wasn't THAT dense, right? Naïve, certainly, but…

Regardless of how he felt about this bit of information, he knew the time was right to press for another when Jude let slip something about destroying an object. He had flat out asked what this thing was, and Jude told him that it was a spyrix in the laboratory. The Lance of Kresnik. This at least made sense and confirmed what he knew to be true. Earlier that day he had been caught attempting to sneak up on Milla when he heard her muttering something about a key and looking intently at some round object which was hidden away as soon as he was detected. Putting two and two together, if her goal was to destroy the Lance and she hadn't succeeded, she at least believed to have thwarted Rashugal by stealing the key to the spyrix, the item she had clutched so tightly as she fell that night in the lab. So why didn't she destroy it if she didn't want the Lance to be used? She may be crazy, but a woman like that had a reason for not acting on impulse, he simply had to find out.

He had gotten a lot of information in a short amount of time thanks to how forth-coming his companions were. Unfortunately, it made him realize two things he didn't care too much for: if her goal was to destroy the Lance, she was an enemy, and if she was Maxwell, she needed to die. But if she was just some kind of crazy person, what kind of a threat was she? She could barely swing a sword without him showing her how (and he was quite careful not to show her everything he knew…), and yet she claimed to be Maxwell, ruler of the spirits, the creator of the schism?

He just didn't buy it. In fact, that claim made him a bit mad. It was true what he told Jude about the bedtime stories regarding Maxwell. These weren't happily ever after stories of course, but rather painted a picture of an immensely powerful spirit that put up the barrier which kept them from returning home. Maxwell was a monster that needed to be killed so his barrier could disappear with him. For such a pathetic figure to claim this mantle…it was practically insulting. The being responsible for their frustration needed to be a hell of a lot more imposing than Mila. However, even if it made him mad, there was no reason to erase her until she looked like an actual threat to the Lance OR somehow was proven to be the Lord of Spirits.

He stopped walking and stared out over the sea. Actually, there was no practical reason for letting her live in light of her claims, but for whatever reason he just didn't want to off her. Normally, the people he spied on had a lot of dirty secrets to hide and did all manner of nasty things to protect them. While he wasn't an assassin, there were plenty of times it took a good deal of restraint NOT to off someone he needed information from. These two were quite different. The woman, though she didn't elaborate on her goal, was at least very straightforward about her intentions and didn't mince words. The boy was an open book without a filter, a kid in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was in way over his head. In fact, the spy had even asked against his better judgement that the kid be careful in the questions he asked of this woman, lest he get himself into more trouble. It would make his job much easier if the kid kept getting info from her and passing it on but… He shook his head. Come on, he had to earn some of the information from his own skill after all! And the less the boy knew, the better. He needed to get out of this while he still could.

So, as he stood and watched the sun frozen on the horizon, he decided that the necessary course of action was continuing to follow them until either of the two undesirable scenarios was proven. Hopefully he could also determine her reason for holding onto the key. One final question: did he report this new knowledge? He stood with Exodus in that he did not want the Lance destroyed, but they might take more drastic action than he was willing to if they found out. Better to wait until he had more proof to condemn Milla "Maxwell". And Auj Oule? He needed to wait until he got a reply from his last message. If they intended to destroy the Lance, he wasn't telling them anything. In fact, even though the pair had denied being Auj Oule spies, they might still become their spies if their objectives aligned…

He simply had to be patient and bide his time. The way things were going, it wouldn't take long to learn more about his companions' motivations.


End file.
